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Wasn't "The Wrath Of Khan" the only one advertised on the blu-ray set as having been 'fully restored'? It's understandable in that case that TMP would be accidentally lumped in with the others, even if the actual restoration work that it underwent is more substantial than with any of the movies between III-VI.

I was just stating that I personally preferred to see the theatrical cut of TMP because I felt the DE was inferior. The definitive version of TMP is the cut shown in cinemas... if Paramount did release only the DE in HD then it would be Lucas-esque and a mistake because then we only have the VHS of TMP to see the original version !

We should be very careful when using and qualifying terms like "definitive" in this type of context, however -- "definitive," in this case, does not truly apply to the Theatrical Cut of TMP, since it was rushed through post-production in order to meet an artificially-imposed studio release deadline.

For it to be a true "definitive" version of the film, it would have needed to have been finished according to Robert Wise's personal specifications back at the time (with a more sufficient editorial window allotted, with a proper final sound-mix, fully-completed visual FX, etc.), and without the rampant corner-cutting that resulted from the studio deadline looming over everything.

Because none of these criteria were actually met back in 1979, and the picture rushed into wide release before it was truly finished, even Wise himself never considered the Theatrical Cut "definitive" in the strict dictionary sense of the term -- in later decades, use of the word is now more in the eye of the beholder, regarding which particular version you happen to personally prefer (theatrical, Director's Cut, or TV edition).

__________________"Pablo, please take Chet's corpse into the other room, and then fix Mr. Hallenbeck a drink."

I'm a little weary of this "artificially imposed studio deadline" talk. TMP had a YEAR of post production, which is usually plenty, and that would have been longer had principle photography not run over schedule. The film got in trouble over the ASTRA issue, and the producer's apparent unwillingness to trim down the number of effects shots.

__________________

* * *

"There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
—Will Rogers

Essentially, every studio release-deadline is, by definition, "artificially-imposed," but by "artificially-imposed studio deadline," I was simply referring to the date set by Paramount for final receipt of what is known as the answer-print -- i.e., the print of the film right before the final visual effects, music, and sound-mix are "locked" for wider theatrical release.

The December 7th deadline, as pointed out in the DVD supplements and various books written since the movie came out, was widely viewed by the production as monolithic and immovable, and resulted in the rushed post-production phase, which forced many of their grander plans to be revised.

__________________"Pablo, please take Chet's corpse into the other room, and then fix Mr. Hallenbeck a drink."

From what I've seen in my years on this board, most people prefer the DE.

And so do I. The theatrical cut puts me to sleep. The DE has much better pacing.

One thing I wish the DE had included is the extended argument between Kirk and McCoy in Kirk's quarters ("And another thing..." "Get out of here, Bones."). It seems obvious that the extended version of this scene is the one that was intended: all other versions, such as the DE and the theatrical version, have a very awkward sort of dubbing and editing.

And since this scene has absolutely no special effects of any kind, why did they cut it out of the theatrical and DE cuts?

__________________
"But here you are, in the ninth
Two men out and three men on
Nowhere to look but inside
Where we all respond to PRESSURE!" - Billy Joel

Probably for reasons of pacing -- Robert Wise went in and basically fine-tuned the cut to within an inch of its life for the Director's Edition, and this included making many, many trims to scenes that were already rather short in the theatrical cut (the Kirk's quarters argument among them).

This resulted in several rather inexplicable snips to existing scenes, such as Kirk's second, waspish, "Viewer off!!" in the crew Rec-deck scene, McCoy's "...Or a crew of a thousand, ten miles tall!" during the entry to V'Ger, etc.

All of these small moments added teaspoons of actual character to the movie, and for a film often criticized as being desperately in need of every drop of characterization it can get, these trims are utterly baffling, except perhaps if Wise was trying to make Kirk look like less of an asshole in that scene.

But I'd still rather have Asshole Kirk™ in that moment, honestly.

__________________"Pablo, please take Chet's corpse into the other room, and then fix Mr. Hallenbeck a drink."

Has anybody with the Blu-ray ripped and some video editing tried replicating the Special Longer Version with the deleted scenes included? I seem to recall that they still had the music included, despite being relegated to bonus features.

I'm a little weary of this "artificially imposed studio deadline" talk. TMP had a YEAR of post production, which is usually plenty, and that would have been longer had principle photography not run over schedule. The film got in trouble over the ASTRA issue, and the producer's apparent unwillingness to trim down the number of effects shots.

Too bad the delays didn't push back release to a later date, like how how Star Wars was pushed from Christmas to the following Summer. There is something called putting out the best product!

Has anybody with the Blu-ray ripped and some video editing tried replicating the Special Longer Version with the deleted scenes included? I seem to recall that they still had the music included, despite being relegated to bonus features.

Someone has recreated the Special Longer Version from an HD broadcast of the Theatrical Cut and the deleted scenes from the the DE DVD.

The picture is only DVD resulution, but it's a pretty accurate recreation of the SLV. And the best thing, it's widescreen ... as opposed to the official releases of the SLV, which were all pan and scan.

I don't know whether or not it's still available in the vastness of the internet, though.

I initially was put off by the DE when it came out, because of certain changes like the klaxons during Red Alert. Many years later I got the DVD and it really grew on me. I never cared too much for TMP, but the DE definitely improved the pacing and the inclusion of those character moments really added a lot. I think it still needs serious trimming, such as the reveal of the new Enterprise. As much as I love Goldsmith, the scene itself is a slog and repetitive.

I do hope the DE gets an HD treatment soon. It's the kind of director's cut that is tastefully done such as the 2007 cut of BLADE RUNNER and many others.